More than any other part of the house, our moveable loft involved repeated rounds of invention and experimentation, and a lot of pulleys and counterweights. After several months of various configurations, I’m satisfied with the following setup:

• Four sliding door Hillaldam rails and wheels, repurposed for each corner of the loft
• Pegs in holes hold the platform wheels in place when the pulley isn’t engaged
• Platform built from pine timber with plywood floor
• Five security gate wheels repurposed as single pulleys
• Two double pulleys and two more standard pulleys, these allow the ropes connected to each corner to join into one rope
• One quadruple pulley with one end attached to the floor and the other to the single rope provides substantial mechanical advantage to easily raise the
• Wall hook to secure dangling rope to the wall

Here’s a video demonstration, originally made for my curious dad who was essential in starting the loft but who didn’t get to see it to completion: